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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Last night and today on Twitter I went through all the stages of grief. You can see my reaction there. At this moment the KKK is marching in celebration of Trump's win.

Over 50 million people hate me, my friends and my family; it's beyond comprehension. I always warned about the alt-right and the deep seeded racism in this country. Never would've thought we'd be here today.

I'm scared ya'll. I'm not sure if I'll ever love America the way I once did. My heart is broken. My mind is exhausted. My eyes are tired. And it's now sunk in that America was never great, we just said it enough that we believed it. I'm gonna need time to process this.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Music. This album seems to be shaping up nicely and this song happens to be my favorite thus far. I don't care to write a long post about Kaepernick, Trump, Hillary and whatever. Bon Iver makes me think creatively, I'm gonna stay on course. Enjoy.

Monday, June 13, 2016

Devastating: The deadliest mass shooting in American history took place Sunday morning when a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others. Police fatally shot the suspect.Orlando Police have so far identified 48 victims and notified the next of kin of 33 of them, they said at a press conference Monday morning.Their mission throughout Monday is to continue briefing all next of kin, said Danny Banks of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

I keep thinking back to when I lived in Chicago. My friends were diverse, free-spirited, some gay, some straight, some bi, some queer, and some were still figuring it all out. We were young and Boystown in Chicago was a common place for everyone to meet, dance, drink and be ourselves. I can't even count how many times we were in a gay club or bar. It was part of our circle and for my LGBT friends, they felt safe to be themselves.

I kept replaying those days in my head last night and I wept. I'm still having trouble keeping it together this morning. The idea that someone could shoot up any of those places never popped in our head once. The victims 53 dead, 50 others still in the hospital, didn't either. This monster took away their lives and all because of "two men kissing." This was an act of hate so blinded that it couldn't see love.

It's infuriating. It's maddening. It's a tragedy. Everyone of these victims deserved better. We as a nation need to do better. If Sandy Hook wasn't enough, I'm not sure this will be either. And that is even more infuriating. There are people in our nation who choose guns over lives. They choose a weapon fetish over children. And the NRA keeps feeding them with faux-macho propaganda. Gun control, gun laws aren't snatching up guns, and they certainly aren't impinging on your fucking freedom. Common sense would've solved this years ago. America can solve this.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

if I win, it will mean that millions of people now want to be involved in the political process in a way that has not previously existed. Every item that I am talking about on my agenda is, I believe, supported by the majority of the people in this country. My major job is to mobilize the American people to demand that Congress listen to them and their needs rather than just the big money interests. That's how you make change take place. For example, as you know, I've talked about the need to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. Do I believe we can deliver on that? Absolutely, because I believe that millions of young people and their parents understand that that's what we should be doing right now. And I think if Republicans or some Democrats want to vote against it, they will pay a very heavy political price.

"Heavy political price" -- I'm sure McConnell is fanning himself right now! What this tells me is Bernie is either completely unrealistic or he has no idea how to start an actual revolution. Or how things get done in Washington, the United States and the world. I've had my reservations about Bernie, mainly this, how does this so-called revolution translate into change? Apparently, Bernie doesn't even know.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Thahn Tan has an article about fighting Asian stereotypes and that's all well and good. She believes that in order to dispel the idea of Asians being the Model Minority and other stereotypes we need to look at the data. I encourage you to read it.

One thing that comes up in Tan's article and that has been bothering me lately, is the mischaracterization of a joke. During the Oscars Chris Rock made a cheap and hack joke about Asian accountants using kids as the punchline. It sucked, the kids were cute and ruined the foolishness of the joke with their cuteness. Yeah, Rock screwed up and did the very thing he criticizes. The AAPI community was in flames. Then members of the community went too far as they also were aghast by a joke told by Sacha Baron Cohen.

... actor Sacha Baron Cohen made a cringe-inducing reference to “very hardworking, little yellow people with tiny” private parts.Thanks, Hollywood. As if we needed more reminders that the powers that be in pop culture remain largely interested in portraying Asians as super nerds and small people content with working hard and staying silent as the world laughs at us.

I can't stand the stereotypes that we deal with in Hollywood. It's something that eats at my friends who audition. It happens behind the scenes as well and it's infuriating.

Baron Cohen's joke:

(Apologies for the quality, it's not mine)

Here's the thing about that joke. It's called a bait and switch. You lead the audience to believe you're going down one obvious road and you flip it on its head. It's as old as time and it's one that Asians should appreciate. It calls out the audience's stereotypes, it puts the joke into their insular world and then hits them with the "Minions" punchline. Baron Cohen was mocking Hollywood. He was right there with us and a lot of people (Tan included) missed it. It's not the funniest thing Baron Cohen's every done, but it's also NOT offensive.

I've seen the AAPI community grow over the years. It's become more vocal, more leadership has come to the forefront. It's a fantastic thing to see develop. As we grow there will be growing pains. What Tan's article is saying is important, it's serious, but it's difficult to take us seriously when we're all too serious, all the time. It's too, Model Minority. And we're better than that.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Rolling Stone shares my concerns about "Feeling the Bern":Anger is not a plan; it is not a reason to wield power; it is not a reason for hope. Anger is too narrow to motivate a majority of voters, and it does not make a case for the ability and experience to govern. I believe that extreme economic inequality, the vast redistribution of wealth to the top one percent — indeed, to the top one percent of the one percent — is the defining issue of our times. Within that issue, almost all issues of social injustice can be seen, none more so than climate change, which can be boiled down to the rights of mankind against the oligarchy that owns oil, coal and vast holdings of dirty energy, and those who profit from their use.

And this:

When I consider what's in their hearts, I think both Clinton and Sanders come out on the side of the angels; but when I compare their achievements in the past decades, the choice is clear. This is not the time in history for a "protest vote."Clinton is far more likely to win the general election than Sanders. The voters who have rallied to Sanders during the primaries are not enough to generate a Democratic majority in November. Clinton will certainly bring them along, and add them to the broad coalition that Democrats have put together in the past to take the presidency, as did Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

I continue to believe Bernie should stick with the run as long as he can. He's actually helping shape a clear message for the party and for Hillary...however time isn't on his side. Nor is the delegate count.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

I'd like to think this was a farce, but it's real. Trump is the candidate the GOP created. It's what they deserve. Hillary is the candidate the Dems deserve. I hope Bernie keeps pushing her left, otherwise hold onto your butts.

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